"Dong Xuan World Lord was the greatest genius our Qiong Luo race had produced in nearly ten million years. Some of our people even speculated that he might have matched our ancestor Qiong Luo's achievements, had he not been born at the wrong time-just a few years before the Genius Battle. He lost because he hadn't had enough time to cultivate, and he was unwilling to waste years lingering at Star Level."
"As a member of the imperial clan, he cultivated in our race's sacred land from childhood. With the resources our race supplied, he reached Star Level Ninth Order within a few years and entered the Genius Battle. He made it into the Top 1000 in Dry Witch Universe Country before being defeated. After consolidating his foundation for several decades, he broke through to Universe Level, then became a Domain Lord several hundred years later. He advanced faster than the geniuses who had entered the cores of the five major powers through that same Genius Battle. At the time, those geniuses were still at Universe Level."
At this point, Dongguan felt the claim was somewhat shaky. The geniuses who entered those core circles through the Genius Battle probably valued the secret-realm resources available at Universe Level, rather than being unable to break through to Domain Lord.
Still, considering that Dong Xuan World Lord's resources were surely inferior to those of the geniuses who went to Chaos City, the claim was understandable.
Besides, he truly was a genius. His accomplishments already rivaled those of Hong when he entered the Genius Battle in the original story, though he had far more resources than Hong.
"Afterward, our race wanted him to devote himself to cultivation, but he refused and traveled the universe instead. A thousand years later, he sent word that he had broken through to World Lord and gone to the Outer Domain Battlefield. Countless elders wrung their hands in dismay."
"Several tens of thousands of years later, Dong Xuan World Lord returned from the Outer Domain Battlefield. Not only had he reached Peak World Lord, but he also brought back a great many gains, including one exceptionally important treasure. Its value exceeded everything Lord Donghua had accumulated over three billion years. Of course, that was kept secret at the time."
"That treasure wasn't used directly in combat. Instead, it aided cultivation and the nurturing of younger generations. Lord Dong Xuan became the patriarch of the Qiong Luo race, and our race recovered from its straitened circumstances. In fact, our true wealth far exceeded what we had possessed at our former peak, enough to tempt even Marquis Immortals and King-level Immortals. We merely needed to keep a low profile and wait for Lord Dong Xuan to break through to Immortal."
"After returning, Lord Dong Xuan gained the recognition of the Water Origin Law. Through studying that treasure, he also gained the recognition of the Wood Origin Law. At that point, he was only just over five hundred thousand years old."
"To pass down his bloodline, our race found many prospective wives for Lord Dong Xuan, but he rejected them all and devoted himself to cultivation. The elders were helpless. Dong Xuan World Lord had always done as he pleased, and there was nothing they could do."
Dongguan listened closely. According to this account, Dong Xuan World Lord was his father in this life, so he must have married eventually. Otherwise, how could Dongguan have been born?
"When Dong Xuan World Lord was around seven hundred thousand years old, he fell in love with another genius of our race-your mother, my master," Qiong said.
Understanding dawned on Dongguan. After hearing so much, he suddenly realized that when Qiong first introduced himself, he had said his master was Domain Lord Xia Lan, not Dong Xuan World Lord.
"At the time, my master was still at Universe Level. She wasn't a member of the imperial clan, but a genius from another of the Qiong Luo race's planets in our star domain. Her cultivation talent was quite good. She comprehended a domain at Cosmic Level Third Order. Though she couldn't compare to Dong Xuan World Lord, becoming a Domain Lord shouldn't have posed a problem, and she had hopes of becoming a World Lord as well."
"Moreover, my master was skilled in potion-making, Artifact Refining, Array Formations, and many other secondary disciplines. Publicly, she was a potion master, but she actually knew far more. I followed her from the time she was very young, still a child at Planetary Level. I recorded her entire cultivation journey. You can watch it yourself in the future." Qiong's face changed again, his two "eyes" curving like crescent moons.
Dongguan could feel Qiong's emotions: warmth and nostalgia.
"Of course, it wasn't that my master didn't want to focus solely on cultivation. Although the Qiong Luo race had become much wealthier, only the imperial clan received sufficient resources. Ordinary members still had to strive for their own. To obtain cultivation resources, and especially to save on the cost of buying treasures, my master taught herself many things."
"It was precisely because of that that she made a name for herself and earned the right to cultivate in our sacred land-the Qiong Luo Ancestral Star, Qiong Luo Star. There, she met your father, Dong Xuan World Lord."
"No one opposed their love. On the contrary, the elders did everything they could to bring them together. Getting Dong Xuan World Lord to leave descendants had long been a terrible headache for them, and they had even considered giving up."
"Another two hundred thousand years or so passed. With your father's help, your mother had long since become a Domain Lord. Had she not divided her attention among other pursuits, she might even have broken through to World Lord."
"By then, your father, Dong Xuan World Lord, was confident that he could break through to Immortal. However, comprehending laws of other attributes would become much more difficult afterward. Having reached a certain level in his understanding of spatial laws, he developed new ambitions. He purchased the right to cultivate in humanity's sacred land, Chaos City in the Initial Universe, hoping to advance further in spatial laws so that when he eventually became an Immortal, he could immediately attain Marquis rank, or even King Rank."
"But that journey brought disaster. Even now, we don't know how the secret leaked, but a powerful King-level Immortal affiliated with the Universe Mercenary Alliance set his sights on your father."
"A race with three billion years of history was destroyed on a powerful being's whim."
Qiong's voice was filled with grief and regret.
The projection showed Qiong Luo Star, a planet that had flourished for three billion years, being destroyed at the hands of a mighty being.
The planet did not go down without resistance. An enormous Immortal Plant Lifeform shielded it with its leaves, while the planet's defense systems, shields, and Laser Cannons injured the figure shrouded in light, whose appearance was impossible to discern.
Enraged, the enemy ultimately summoned a Zerg Nest in space. Countless Zerg Warriors emerged, and their combined assault blasted the planet apart.
That figure plunged into the shattered planetary debris and entered a glowing spatial passage several kilometers across that had yet to disappear.
"Not long after Dong Xuan World Lord returned from Chaos City, your mother became pregnant with you. But by then, this great enemy had completed all his preparations. Your father's efforts to stall him failed, and he came."
"At the critical moment, your father fled with your mother into the Immortal Plant Lifeform's Divine Kingdom."
"The enemy pursued them inside. Even within the Divine Kingdom, your father and the plant lifeform, despite its home-field advantage, were still no match for him. He even injured your mother."
The scene changed again, shifting to the battle within the Divine Kingdom. Dong Xuan World Lord controlled the Immortal Plant Lifeform as he fought that great enemy.
The battle shook heaven and earth, shattering the Divine Kingdom.
A silver-white spaceship escaped through a newly formed Divine Kingdom Passage.
The viewpoint shifted onto the spaceship.
The enemy reached out to stop it, and Dong Xuan World Lord desperately held him back. Even so, an attack that shattered space struck the ship.
Everything spun as the spaceship plunged into spatial turbulence.
The battle footage ended, but it was easy to imagine how grim the situation had become.
"The spatial turbulence stranded the spaceship in a Spatial Rift. It was extremely dangerous, but we found an opportunity to escape and discovered that we were in this Void Domain."
"The star charts identified this as the territory of Hu Yanbo, a Lone Immortal Expert who had fallen tens of thousands of years earlier. There were two life-bearing planets here, so we came to the planet now called Earth."
"However, your mother had been struck by that enemy's Soul Attack. Even though she had only caught its fringe, her soul still began to collapse. She could hold on for no more than a few decades."
"She endured long enough to give birth to you, only to discover that because of the Soul Attack, you possessed signs of life but could not awaken. There seemed to be something wrong with your soul."
"With no other choice, she froze you in a Nourishment Pod. Then, imitating your father's treasure, she built that altar and the corresponding Tower to draw in relatively gentle cosmic energy and nourish your soul. She hoped that one day you could truly be 'born.'"
"Several decades ago, something called the RR Virus appeared on Earth. Although it only affected lifeforms below even Apprentice Level, after it seeped into the Nourishment Pod, it somehow restored what your soul lacked. Once you awakened, however, you crawled out of the Nourishment Pod as an infant and wandered Earth alone."
As Qiong reached this point, the projected images gradually caught up to the present.
Recovering from his shock, Dongguan asked, "The Nourishment Pod? Where is it? And what were those 'distracting thoughts' I sensed before?"
"The Nourishment Pod is beneath the raised platform holding the Black Stone Altar. When you wanted to leave, its preset program opened a passage to the outside. As for the distracting thoughts, they came from an accidentally damaged Psychic Wave Device that kept operating. The Qiong Luo race is sensitive to psychic waves at certain special frequencies, which are generally used for communication. You were only at Apprentice Level then, so you couldn't withstand them."
"When that 'Hong' moved the altar, he woke me. After awakening from dormancy, I switched off the Psychic Wave Device. Over the past year, I've been repairing the ship's damaged functions, including the passage that brought you here."
"The spaceship." Delight stirred in Dongguan's heart, and he asked, "The spaceship was damaged. Can it still travel through the universe?"
"This was your father's personal vessel, the E9-class spaceship, the Qiongluo Ship. He gave it to your mother to use at the end. Its hull is made of E9-class metal, tongxuan silver essence, while many important internal components are made of F9-grade metal, tongxuan silver motherlode. Most of its equipment is also built to Immortal standards. This configuration was chosen to avoid flaunting his wealth."
Dongguan understood. Despite his astonishing wealth, Dong Xuan World Lord was still only a World Lord. Openly using an E-class spaceship suited his status better.
"Thus, when it was struck into spatial turbulence, aside from the energy consumed, only some internal devices suffered minor faults from the impact. There are spare parts aboard, so I can repair them. It will take another two years to restore its ability to fly through the Dark Universe, but if you merely want to enter space, one year will suffice."
"One year, two years-that's fine." Dongguan calculated the timing. If the repairs took two years, Nolan Mountain's people probably wouldn't have arrived yet. Still, he would have to deal with the Golden Horned Beast.
Since the spaceship hadn't suffered much damage, as long as it could fly, he could defeat the Golden Horned Beast simply by slicing it with the ship. Capturing it would take some effort, though.
"By the way, Qiong, you keep mentioning that great enemy. Who exactly is he?"
"Do you really want to know?" Qiong gazed at Dongguan with his "eyes." "That enemy is an extremely powerful being. Your father only hoped that you would take his inheritance, find somewhere in the universe to settle the Qiong Luo race, and keep a low profile while planning for the future. He never truly expected you to avenge him. That would be very difficult. Even if your father had broken through to Immortal, he would have been no match for that man, who is powerful even among King-level Immortals."
"Tell me. Who is he? Even if I can't take revenge, I shouldn't remain ignorant of my enemy's identity. Besides, when I travel the universe in the future, even if I can't defeat him, I can at least avoid him."
"He was once a core genius of the Universe Mercenary Alliance, one of humanity's five major powers. Now he is a Peak King soul master, King Huozhen. His standing is no lower than that of a King Rank Limit expert."
"King Huozhen." Dongguan repeated the title without feeling particularly discouraged.
Even if he was no match for the man, as long as he survived until Luo Feng grew stronger, he could ask Luo Feng for help.
And if changes in events prevented Luo Feng from reaching those heights, and Dongguan failed to do so as well, then when this Reincarnation Era ended and the World Beast King emerged, the entire Universe Ocean would fall.
Of course, deep down, he still hoped to avenge himself with his own hands.
"Next, I'll introduce the inheritance your parents left you."
Dongguan raised his head, anticipation stirring within him.
Although both the history and the great enemy brought considerable sorrow, this inheritance would be what he relied on for a long time to come. He just didn't know how much there was.
"The inheritance has three parts. The first consists of this spaceship and me, along with the stored intelligence on various aspects of the universe and the vast majority of our race's Secret Techniques. The second is the Bank Account your father left behind, which you can access once you enter the universe. The final part is what your mother left you."
Qiong stepped aside, revealing a rack holding several rows of rings.
"These World Rings and Space Rings contain your mother's entire inheritance. Aside from the secret-technique records, these are the resources you can use right now."
"Originally, your father stayed behind to hold off the enemy so your mother could teach you herself. But with the damage to her soul and the unexpected problem with you, fate took its twists and turns, and this was all that remained."
Qiong looked especially sorrowful.
Just as he was about to retrieve and inspect those precious rings, Dongguan looked at Qiong. "One day, I'll kill King Huozhen and avenge my parents and our people."
Although he had never truly known them, this inheritance alone was enough to give him a measure of identification with his new identity.
Besides, even if he never went after King Huozhen, the man would surely come after him if he learned of his existence.
They were destined to be enemies.
"It's enough that you have that resolve." Clearly, Qiong did not believe Dongguan could truly avenge Dong Xuan World Lord, Domain Lord Xia Lan, and the countless members of the Qiong Luo race.
Before you continue